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When Ollie stopped to think about it, Ashlynn had taught him that witchcraft was about blending his desires with the energy of the world to make things happen.

Old Nan’s explanation might be slightly different than the witchcraft he’d learned from Ashlynn but that didn’t mean it wasn’t a valid path for him to follow in order to put his desires to keep his people safe into the wood as he carved.

If anything, it was a tradition that meshed so well with witchcraft that he wondered if it had been something the Heartwood clan learned from a previous Mother of Trees.

Given the way the entire clan revered the Mother of Trees and the witches in her coven, it wouldn’t be surprising if traditions like this one had originated in witchcraft.

Feeling an even greater sense of confidence in the direction his plan had taken, Ollie redoubled his efforts to learn everything he could from Old Nan about the Heartwood Clan’s way of carving and dedicated himself almost completely to producing the protective amulets that would help to shield his men from the Holy Flames of the Inquisition in the battle to come.

Working together, day by day, with Old Nan to break logs down into appropriate sized blanks, roughing out the shape of the design to be inscribed and giving Ollie guidance as he turned each small piece of wood into a protective amulet, they made rapid progress even though Ollie had to be the one to finish carving every single piece.

At the very end, he held the finished amulet close to his heart and spoke the words that would transform a simple wooden charm into a powerful protective amulet.

"Through wood that stands where waters flow,

Where fire fails and cannot grow,

I carve this shield ’gainst zealot’s flame,

Let water’s touch end fire’s reign."

Each amulet was shaped like the shield of a knight and bore a symbol in the center reminiscent of ripples spreading across a pond.

The first ones were simple and crude, but by the end, they were not only much more refined, but simply putting one on would bring a sense of calm safety and even relief against the oppressive heat of the double suns.

"I wish I’d realized this could protect people from the heat sooner," Ollie said, cursing himself for failing to think of something like this when he’d poured all of his energy into protecting his people.

There was still time, however, to protect one important person who wouldn’t be taking to the field of battle with him against the Lothians and their partners in the Church.

"Please wear this, Old Nan," Ollie said, slipping a simple leather cord through a hole in the best protective amulet he’d made. "It isn’t much, but I know that the strain of the heat is taking its toll on you. Please, promise me you won’t give this away and that you’ll use it to protect yourself from the heat," he said, staring into her dark eyes with an intensity that surprised the old woman.

"You really should give something like this to the men working in the fields if you have extras," Old Nan said, as she took the amulet from the young man’s hand. He’d worked with tools instead of claws, of his own but as the tips of her claws traced the ripples on the surface of the amulet she felt a trace of a deep yearning and.

.. an deep well of pain that momentarily took her breath away.

"It’s fine if you wear it," Ollie said, taking the amulet and tying it in place around the old woman’s neck. "If for no other reason than that Milo and I will be able to focus on the battle ahead knowing that you are protected."

"Well, if you say so," Old Nan said, searching Ollie’s face as if she was trying to find the source of the pain she’d felt carved into the protective amulets.

But whatever it was, she saw no sign of it before he turned to leave, marching out under the scorching heat of the true sun to speak with his soldiers.

"Harrod," Ollie asked when he reached the horned soldier who had taken command of Ollie’s hastily assembled army while he worked on his witchcraft with Old Nan. "How are our men?"

"Tired, and overheated," Harrod said honestly, refusing to mince his words with the young witch who they all looked to for leadership during this nightmare. "But we’ve gathered two hundred men from the surrounding villages and added them to our own men. Some of the volunteers from the other villages are woodsmen who brought their own axes. They’ve never fought in battle before, but they’re strong and willing to stand up for their villages," he said proudly.

"Will they be useful?" Ollie asked. "If they’ll only get in the way then we should leave them here to defend the village."

"They’ll do their best," Harrod said in a carefully neutral tone, as though he couldn’t bear to hold the men back from the chance to fight against the human invaders.

.. but didn’t want to offer his opinion on how helpful they would actually be.

"We’ve all been practicing calls and signals so we can coordinate small groups," he said, changing the topic.

"With so many men who have never trained as soldiers, it’s going to be hard to coordinate this many small groups," Harrod said honestly.

"Sometimes, when skill is lacking, it’s better to form ranks and fight as one organized mob instead of several small bands that can be defeated in detail.

Are you sure you want to fight this way, Sir Ollie? "

"I’m sure," Ollie said as he tossed a bag filled with protective amulets to the horned soldier.

"Pass these out to the men. Make sure everyone gets one, but this one," he said, pulling out two of his best, most recent attempts.

"Is yours, and the other one is for Milo. They should help with the heat as well, but everyone needs to get a full night’s rest before we move on the enemy. "

"I’ll see to it, Sir Ollie," Harrod said, pressing a fist to his chest in salute. Looking in the bag, he was stunned to find hundreds of intricately carved wooden amulets, each of which bore a trace of the same energy he felt from the amulets Ollie had given him.

There was a clear difference, however, in that the amulets in the bag felt more like the cool shelter of a cypress tree at the edge of a gentle pond while the ones Ollie had handed him carried an additional feeling of deep strength and the ability to weather endless storms. Clearly, the two that the young witch had set aside for his closest companions bore an even greater investment of his strength.

.. and a stronger feeling of the care and concern he felt for the people he’d prepared them for.

"Sir Ollie," Harrod asked before departing to pass out the protective amulets. "Do you think we can win?"

"Honestly?" Ollie said, looking in the direction of Owain’s army in the distance. "I don’t know. But we’re running out of time, and we have better odds now than ever before. Whether we can win or not, we’ll find out soon enough..."